SUPPLEMENT TO WARREN'S ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE 




FARMING IN OREGON 



BY 
H. D. SCUDDER 

OF THE OREGON AOBICULTURAL COLLSGB 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 



SUPPLEMENT TO WARREN'S ELEMENTS OF AUJilCliLTUKE 



DRY FARMING IN OREGON 



BY 
H. D. SCUDDER 

OF THE OREGON AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 



H 



i^ 



^"^ 



JUL -2 1914 

©C1A374638 



H^ 



/ 



'^'U 



DRY FARMING IN OREGON 

H. D. SCUDDER, OREGON AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 

Dry Farming Conditions in Oregon. " Dry farming " is a 
term applied to a special system of farming that is required 
to produce profitable crops without irrigation where the rain- 
fall is insufficient for production under ordinary farming 
methods. Generally, where the annual precipitation is 20 
inches or less, dry farming methods are required, but seldom 
will even these methods bring profitable production where the 
annual rainfall is less than 10 inches. 

In Oregon there is a great farming area east of the Cas- 
cades, comprising approximately two-thirds of the area of 
the state, where the annual rainfall ranges from 10 to 25 
inches and where either dry farming or irrigation must be 
resorted to, to secure successful returns from cropping. In 
this vast territory there are approximately 1,500,000 acres 
now successfully operated under the dry farming system, 
and approximately 3,000,000 acres of land suitable for this 
method of farming yet to be put under the plow. The larger 
portion of the dry farming land now cultivated in Eastern 
Oregon is found in the Columbia Basin. These lands at the 
present time are the chief wheat-producing portion of the 
state. Some of these Columbia Basin lands have been farmed 
for thirty years or more, what is called the " summer fallow " 
method of grain production being used. In this system, a 
grain crop is grown only every other year, each alternate year 

Copyright, 1914, by the Macmillan Company. 
B 1 



2 DRY FARMING IN OREGON 

the land being plowed and left fallow through the growing 
season. 

In the Blue Mountain and Central Oregon divisions (see 
map), hitherto devoted largely to the production of livestock 
and of hay and grain by means of irrigation, large areas of 
lands that cannot be irrigated have been in recent years and 
still are being brought into production by means of the dry 
farming system. 

In the three different divisions of Eastern Oregon, shown 
on the map, the conditions as to soils, rainfall, elevation, and 
growing season, and their effect upon dry farming production, 
vary considerably. In the Columbia Basin region, Avith the 
exception of Umatilla County, the average annual rainfall 
is about 11 inches, the average elevation 2000 feet, and the 
average growing season 150 days. In the Blue Mountain 
region, the average annual rainfall is about 18 inches, the 
average elevation 3000 feet, and the average groAving season 
120 days. In the Central Oregon division, the average an- 
nual rainfall is 11 inches, the average elevation 4000 feet, 
and the average growing season 100 days. The rainfall in 
Umatilla County (15 to 25 inches) is considerably higher than 
that in the rest of the Columbia Basin, owing to the proximity 
of the Blue Mountains. Thus it may be seen that in the Blue 
Mountain region, the large rainfall permits heavier produc- 
tion on the dry farm, while in the Columbia Basin the rain- 
fall is so low as to require the most careful methods. In 
Central Oregon, on the other hand, the elevation and short 
growing season make frosts the most critical factor in pro- 
duction. Throughout Eastern Oregon, the evaporation is 
rather high, averaging about 45 inches from a free water 
surface, while the distribution of the rainfall is not especially 
favorable to crops, owing to the very scanty precipitation 
during the summer months. 



DRY FARMING /;V OREGON 




4 DRY FARMING IN OREGON 

On the other hand, the soils of the Eastern Oregon dry- 
farming area as a whole are very favorable for production. 
In the Columbia Basin and the Blue Mountain region, the 
gray silt loam is almost the universal type. This soil, some- 
times called " volcanic ash," is a fine-grained fertile soil, 
excellently adapted to moisture conservation and easy tillage. 
In Central Oregon, the most common dry farming soil type 
is the brown sandy loam, easier for tillage operations but not 
quite so retentive of moisture nor so rich in plant food. In 
both of these types throughout the region, humus is the con- 
stituent in which the soils are most deficient. 

Altogether, the conditions for dry farming in Oregon are 
fairly favorable for successful production, provided the 
farmer fully understands the problems involved and uses 
the very best methods to meet them. 

Special Dry Farming Tillage Practices. The chief objects 
of dry farming tillage practices are to conserve moisture and 
destroy weeds. The highest production is dependent first 
and foremost upon the fullest use of the rainfall. With the 
proper tillage methods, fully one-half of the total annual 
precipitation may be conserved. As every inch of rainfall 
secured from the soil by the wheat crop will produce ap- 
proximately 3 bushels of grain, if one-half of the average an- 
nual rainfall of 11 inches were conserved for the use of the 
crop, a yield of approximately 15 bushels per acre could be 
secured ; or, under the summer fallow system, double that 
yield per acre every other year. On the average Eastern 
Oregon dry farm at the present time, little more than half this 
yield is obtained, and it is probable not more than a fourth of 
the total annual precipitation is conserved and used for crop 
production. 

Deep plowing is the first essential in moisture conserva- 
tion. A deep, rough, loose layer of plowed soil acts like a 



DRY FARMING IN OREGON 5 

sponge in quickly absorbing precipitation and permitting it to 
get into the soil, where it may be stored for later use. Plow- 
ing in the fall is of great advantage, in that it leaves the land 
rough and loose so that it holds the snow and absorbs the 
rains of early fall and spring. Very commonly, however, 
the soil is too dry to plow well in the fall, unless a disk plow 
is used. Ordinarily the disk plow does inferior work, be- 
cause it is set too shallow. If disk plowing is done, it should 
be deeper than moldboard plowing (not less than 10 inches), 
and more horse power should be used. 

Where the land is not plowed in the fall, another practice 
is very successfully substituted for it. This is the use of 
the disk harrow on the stubble in the fall after the first 
rains have come, so that the soil turns well and is not left too 
much pulverized. Disk harrowing in the fall chops up the 
grain stubble, aiding in its decay over winter, destroys a 
great many weeds, and leaves the surface soil fairly rough 
and loose for the absorption of the winter precipitation. In 
addition, such land is more easily and effectively plowed in 
the spring. 

Where the land has been left over winter in the stubble, 
a valuable practice is disk harrowing early in the spring. 
This has much the same effects as fall disking in chopping 
up the heavy stubble, destroying weeds, absorbing the 
spring rainfall, and making the plowing easier and more 
effective. 

Where plowing of dry farming land is done in the spring, 
either for seeding or for summer fallowing, it is of the greatest 
importance that it be done as early as possible. Land plowed 
in April will give a yield of 5 or 6 bushels more per acre than 
that plowed in June. All spring plowing should be followed 
immediately with the spiketooth harrow, so that a soil mulch 
is created at once and the loss of moisture prevented. Evap- 



6 DRY FARMING IN OREGON 

oration losses are very high at the time of the spring plow- 
ing, owing to the large surface of moist soil exposed, so that 
immediate mulching with the harrow is of the greatest 
value. 

The use of a subsurface packer is unnecessary on land that 
is being plowed for summer fallow. Its chief use is for spring 
plowed land which is to be seeded at once. Such newly 
plowed land is often so loose as to dry out quickly, leaving 
the crop in poor shape to withstand the drouth of summer. 
The subsurface packer firms the soil in the lower part of the 
plow bed so that capillary action is new between the plowed 
layer and the subsoil where the moisture is stored. The use 
of a surface roller on the dry farm is seldom necessary or 
desirable. 

Practically all seeding on the dry farm should be done with 
the drill, even the seeding of alfalfa or field peas in rows, and 
of corn, as well as wheat and other small grains. The mod- 
ern grain drill can be adapted to the seeding of practically 
all dry farming crops. 

Most of the work of moisture conservation is accomplished 
through surface cultivation, the object of which is to maintain 
a good mulch and destroy weeds. The most effective soil 
mulch is from 3 to 4 inches in depth and is not too finely 
pulverized. It consists of a dry, loose layer of small clods 
mixed with more finely pulverized soil. Such a mulch when 
rain comes is rough and loose enough to absorb rainfall and 
does not run together and crust and bake and crack as does 
a very finely pulverized dust mulch. Further, the cloddy 
mulch will not blow as readily as will a dust mulch, and this 
is important in localities where some trouble is had with 
soil blowing. Surface cultivation is given only frequently 
enough to maintain a good mulch and destroy weeds. It 
does not need to be given every week, but only when the 



DRY FARMING IN OREGON 7 

rainfall has destroyed the mulch by compacting it and wetting 
it, so that capillary action is resumed through it and loss of 
moisture through evaporation takes place. Ordinarily, in 
Eastern Oregon, two or three harrowings of the summer 
fallow during the spring, followed by several cultivations 
with the bar weeder sufficient to keep down the weeds, and 
a final cultivation in the fall before seeding is generally all 
that is necessary to maintain satisfactory conditions. Land 
that is in row crops, such as corn, alfalfa, potatoes, rape, and 
the like, may be cultivated on the same basis, a spiketooth 
harrow, or Hallock weeder being used early in the season 
and later the shovel cultivator. Winter-sown grain may be 
harrowed several times early in the spring with great benefit, 
not only to destroy weeds, but to break up the soil crust 
formed over winter. 

A good tillage program for the average Eastern Oregon 
dry farm would be about as follows, the rotation being — 
first year, summer fallow ; second year, wheat ; third year, 
fallow substitute crop, such as field peas, corn, or the like : 

First Year. — Double-disking in the fall after harvest. 
Fall plowing. Double-disking in early spring. Harrowing 
two or three weeks later. Harrowing after the next heavy 
rainfall. Harrowing, or the "bar weeder," in June. The 
" bar weeder " in July. Harrowing, or " bar weeder," in 
August. Disking in September. 

Second Year. — Press-drilling wheat in fall after first 
rain, but not later than the first of November. Harrowing 
weedy wheat several weeks after sowing. Harrowing wheat 
twice at intervals in spring. 

Third Year. — Double-disking after harvest. Fall plow- 
ing. Double-disking early the next spring. Harrowing in 
two weeks. Harrowing before seeding. Press-drilling bar- 
ley, or emmer, or field peas, corn, rape, or sorghum, in rows, 



8 DRY FARMING IN OREGON 

or other " fallow substitute " crop. Harrowing young crop 
with weeder and cultivating row crops later. 

Dry Farming Machinery. The chief object to be observed 
in the selection of dry farming machinery is to obtain tools 
that do reasonably good work rapidly and cheaply. Wher- 
ever it is possible to use it, the moldboard plow does the best 
quality of work, the sulky 3-bottom gang plow being the type 
most used by the dry farmer who wishes to get over the land 
quickly and cheaply. The disk plow if properly used is 
especially valuable in plowing hard, dry soils before the rains 
have come, or in plowing sticky soils that will not scour on 
the moldboard plow. It is also especially effective in plowing 
newly cleared sage brush land. The disk plow, however, 
must be very carefully selected, as it must have a high clear- 
ance beam (so that it will not choke), rigid frame, the best of 
material in the rotary disks (which should have a diameter 
of 26 or 28 inches), and the best of bearings (preferably on 
both sides of each disk). Subsoil plows and the special deep 
tillage plows recently introduced are not considered neces- 
sary for the Eastern Oregon dry farmer. 

A good spiketooth lever harrow and first-class disk harrow, 
such as the Double Action Cutaway disk, are indispensable 
dry farming tools. Rollers and packers are seldom nec- 
essary. The best obtainable grain drill, of the hoe type, 
and provisions for sowing seed of all sizes, and particularly 
at very low rates per acre, are the most important essentials 
of the dry farmer's equipment. On poorly prepared or 
trashy ground, the single disk drill does better work than 
the hoe drill. For the planting of corn or beans, the single- 
horse drill or the regular, two-row planter may be used. On 
every dry farm, a first-class 8-shovel riding cultivator- with 
all modern adjustments should be found. Special knife 
blades for cultivating such weeds as the Russian thistle may 



DRY F AH MIX a IX OHEGOX 9 

be made for this machine. For early cultivation of row crops, 
the Hallock weeder is a cheap and indispensable implement 
for effective work. For summer cultivation, the most ef- 
fective weed killer is the bar weeder — a home-made machine 
widely used throughout Eastern Oregon. 




Fig. 2. Bar weeder used on Experiment Station at Moro, Ore., for summer fallow 

cultivation. 

For harvesting, the header is the best machine for the 
modern diversified dry farm. The combined harvester and 
thresher, although a wonderful machine for harvesting 
quickly and cheaply on a large scale, is adapted only to the 
" bonanza " type of farming. For harvesting alfalfa for 
seed, the self rake reaper, and for field pea seed, the bean 
puller or special blades on the row cultivator, may be used. 

The fanning mill, for cleaning and grading seeds of all 
kinds, is one of the most profitable pieces of equipment the 
dry farmer can possess. 

Housing undoubtedly at least doubles the life of the average 
machine, and the dry farmer's entire equipment can be shel- 
tered in a machine shed that can be built for $200 or $300. 

Dry Farming Crops. In selecting his crops, the dry farmer 
should choose those crops which require the least moisture 
(corn) ; that are deep rooting (alfalfa) ; that are early matur- 
ing or have a short season of growth (field peas and rape) ; 
that are adapted to moisture conserving tillage (row crops) ; 



10 



DRY FARMIXG 7.V OREGON 




DRY FARMING IN OREGON 11 

that may be cheaply produced (small grains) ; that are 
hardy to winter cold or spring frosts (rye and field peas) ; 
that are arid-bred ; or those that decrease fertiUty the least 
Or, instead, increase it (alfalfa and field peas). 

Winter wheat is now and undoubtedly always will be the 
chief crop of the Oregon dry farmer. The best variety for 
Oregon, wherever the rainfall is 18 inches or under, unques- 
tionably is the Turkey. Corn (the Improved Minnesota 
No. 23), barley (Swan-neck), rye, oats (Sixty-Day), and 
emmer are the other cereals, and the respective best varieties 
of each which are successfully grown and of value to the 
Eastern Oregon dry farmer. Of these, corn alone is not very 
successfully grown in Oregon over an elevation of 3500 feet. 
Winter barley and winter emmer are being grown with fair 
success. Of the spring wheats, the Selected Bluestem is 
probably the best variety. 

New crops recently successfully produced on the Eastern 
Oregon dry farm are the hardier strains of alfalfa (the Baltic 
and the Grimm), field peas (the Carleton and the Cossack), 
rape, artichokes, field beans (at the lower elevations), flax, 
mangels (at the higher elevations), and several forage crops, 
of minor importance. Potatoes are very successfully grown,, 
both for home use and commercially, on the Oregon dry farm- 
ing lands, except at some of the highest elevations. Of all 
the dry farming crops, the hardy alfalfa and field peas grown 
in cultivated rows for seed production or for hog pasture are 
the most profitable in Eastern Oregon and are of especial 
value because of their effect in restoring and increasing fer- 
tiUty. Corn, rape, and artichokes are chiefly valuable if they 
are utilized by pasturing oif with hogs or sheep. 

The list of new crops recently developed for the Eastern 
Oregon dry farmer is now sufficient to permit a much more 
intensive and diversified, a surer and more attractive, 



12 



DRY FARMING IN OREGON 



type of agriculture than that which he has hitherto em- 
ployed. 

Dry Farming Management. The most striking need of 
the old settled dry farming lands in Eastern Oregon, both 
from the fertility and economic standpoints, is for a more 




Fig. 4. College bred field corn at 3500 feet elevation on O. A. C. Dry Farm, Metolius^ 
Ore. For " hogging down." 

diversified system of farming, to maintain or increase fer- 
tility. This will permit employing a smaller farm unit and 
thus increase the population and the social and economic 
development of the rural districts. The present large size 
of the dry farms, together with the continuous grain cropping, 
is reducing the fertility of the soil and does not get the max- 
imum production and use of the land that is possible. Fur- 
ther, the " bonanza " style of wheat farming has larger risks 
and does not produce as steady an income, while very little 
of the money obtained by the farmer in this type of farming 



DRY FARMING IN OREGON 13 

is expended on the land or in the country from which the 
crop is sold. The great need of the entire Eastern Oregon 
dry farming area is for a much more diversified system of 
farming, which will permit a higher production per acre, the 
maintenance of fertility, a steadier and surer income, suc- 
cessful farms of smaller size, and thus a more populous and 
permanent agriculture. 

That diversified dry farming may be carried on success- 
fully in Eastern Oregon on farms of 320 to 640 acres in size 
has been fully demonstrated in recent years. This has been 
accomplished by the use of better varieties of grain and im- 
proved methods of tillage and seeding, especially with refer- 
ence to moisture conservation and the control of weeds, so 
that larger yields of grain crops are obtained. For grain, 
even on the diversified dry farm, will always be a leading 
crop. 

The chief departure in the diversified type of farming, 
however, is the introduction of leguminous forage and seed 
crops, such as alfalfa and field peas, used in rotation with 
grain and thus increasing fertility through the nitrogen- 
gathering ability of these plants and the increase effected in 
the humus content of the soil. Although the alfalfa and field 
pea may be raised for sale as seed crops, a considerable por- 
tion of them is consumed by livestock, particularly pigs and 
sheep, and thus the income from the land increased and its 
fertihty retained. 

On the newly settled or undeveloped dry farming areas of 
Central Oregon and the Blue Mountain region, the chief 
problems of the dry farmer are the short growing season, the 
sandier soil, and the lack of transportation. On these lands, 
diversified farming is even more necessary than on the old 
farming areas of the Columbia Basin, and should be adopted 
from the very beginning. 



14 DRY FARMIXG IX OREGON 

The most important requirement for the new settler on 
the Central Oregon dry farming lands is not the clearing of 
the sage brush or the protection of crops against rabbits, 
but rather it is the conservation of sufficient moisture by 







-yi 


L 


^^mm 






^^ 


pp*^-^-- - -^A 


^ 








~ '?^ 1 


^^PL 




P'- ....... . 




^^ 


■saM- g 


HBk i' 




^H 




^^i 




^^^^ 


i 


fH 


1^^- 




'r^^^^B^H 




1^ 


■iiiMiSi ■ rfrMfBw 






H^^^BRf^-*'' ^--'i*---- 




-1« 




Plfi^^r^-*^«^K.j- ■'- ■ v^ ''/'-, 


' rf(">'«»-,-fe'ff*«i!i'»;" 




, ^>''Jk' ■■■ ■■ 


JK^aiBigiJ'fcrHflB^^B^^^^^BM 


KfiK^;Y|f!5iaK** 


>a|ra 


■MRI^^^^E 


^.?J --■(% 


mu 


j3;:^;^V^ •>•":■■-. '-' ^ 


^]Sl45k(i'Sa2» 


3^3 


^:^H 


fmS^* 


i 


^^^1 




^ 






llMWkiL 1.1MM 




Sfi 


*^^l^ii'i^^^HI 


'•■''■ 


^^ 


il^^l 



Fig. 5. Field peas in double drill rows for forage and seed production. Yield 
26 bushels per acre, O. A. C. Dry Farming Experiment Station, Moro, Ore. 

thorough cultivation the first year so that he can produce a 
successful crop the second year. A short growing season 
can be offset by securing hardier varieties of grain and for- 
age, such as those already named ; and the distance from the 
shipping point may be offset by the growing of alfalfa seed, 
which may be profitably hauled a long distance, and the 
raising of livestock, which can be sold in the home locality. 
As suggested, successful management of the dry farm is 
dependent on maintaining or increasing fertility through the 



DRY FARMING IN OREGON 15 

growing of nitrogen-gathering and humus-forming crops in 
rotations, and the feeding of them to hvestock. 
■ A comparison of the fertihty effects of three of the most 
important dry farming products will show at once how this 
problem must be met : 

Wheat, one acre, 25 bushels, at 70 cents per bushel, has 
a market value of $17.50, costs about $6 per acre to produce, 
and takes away from the soil plant foods having a market 
value of $6.75, so that the net profit from an acre of wheat is 
$4.75. An acre of alfalfa seed yielding 100 pounds at 20 
cents a pound has a market value of $20, costs $3 to pro- 
duce, but adds to the soil through its nitrogen-gathering 
ability $3.90 worth of plant food, and thus gives a net 
profit of $20.90. An acre of land devoted to pigs will 
produce 300 pounds of pork, at 7 cents per pound, having 
a market value of $21, will cost $3 to produce, and through 
the alfalfa and field peas fed will return to the land $2.50 
worth of plant foods, and thus gives a net profit of $19.50 
per acre. 

With these facts in mind, it is not hard to see how easily 
the profits per acre and the fertility may be increased by 
growing more alfalfa and field peas and raising more pigs and 
growing less wheat or other grain. 

In other words, if the Eastern Oregon dry farmer were to 
maintain J ertility , buying and replacing the plant food consumed, 
a half section of land farmed to wheat would give him only 
a bare living, even with a yield of 25 bushels per acre on the 
summer fallow system. The money invested in his land 
would give him a better profit loaned through his bank at 
6 per cent than it would invested in his wheat land. Alfalfa 
or field peas or pigs, on the other hand, would not only give 
him a good profit on his investment and labor, but would 
steadily increase the fertility and productive power of his 



16 



DRY FARMING IN OREGON 



soil. In other words, when a farmer raises and sells nothing 
but wheat or other grain, the money he receives comes 
largely from the direct sale of the fertility of his farm, which 
in time is bound to become so reduced that it will no longer 
give him a living. 




Fig. 6. Alfalfa in cultivated rows for seed and forage production. O. A. C. Dry 
Farm, Metolius, Ore. 

Every acre of 25-bushel wheat sold is grown at a fertility 
loss of S6.75, while every acre of alfalfa grown brings a fertility 
gain of S3. 90 and a much greater profit on his labor and in- 
vestment as well ; but since every acre of alfalfa enriches the 
soil each year with an amount of nitrogen (the most valuable 
of the plant foods) equivalent to that consumed in producing 
41 bushels of wheat, it is evident that the dry farmer still 
may grow wheat and other grains if a good rotation, including 
alfalfa and field peas and pigs, is used. That such rotations 



DRY FARMING IN OREGON 



17 




Fig. 7. Pigs fattening on field pea pasture. O. A. C. Experiment Farm. 

are easily and profitably fitted to the Eastern Oregon dry 
farm, has been fully demonstrated. 

In every good rotation plan of any sort, the following fea- 
tures or requirements must be found : 



1. "Money " Crop 

For cash sales 

2. Legume Crop 

For fertility — 
Nitrogen-gather- 
ing, increasing 
humus, subsoil- 
ing effect 

3. Cultivated Crop 

Improving tilth, 
making plant 
food available, 
destroying 
weeds 

4. Barn Yard and Green 

Manures, Straw, etc. 



On Oregon Dry 
Farming Lands 

Wheat or other grains 
Alfalfa and field pea 

seed 
Livestock — pigs, lambs, 
colts, poultry 

Alfalfa, field peas 



Alfalfa, rape, corn, 
potatoes, field peas, 
roots, artichokes 



Green manures — 
Rape, rye, sweet 
clover 



On Oregon Irri- 
gated Lands 

Butter fat, pigs, heifer 
calves 

Potatoes, cabbage, oni- 
ons, etc. 

Alfalfa, clover, field 
peas 



Corn, potatoes, rape, 
mangels, natabagas, 
cabbage, onions, etc. 



Rape, rye and hairy 
vetch, crimson clover, 
sweet clover 



18 DRY FARMING IN OREGON 

For example — several excellent rotations for the average 
Eastern Oregon diversified dry farm of 320 acres would be 
as follows : 

Field No. 1 — wheat, 80 acres. 

Field No. 2 — field peas, 40 acres ; corn, 20 acres ; rape, 
20 acres. 

Field No. 3 — summer fallow, 80 acres. 

Field No. 4 — alfalfa pasture, 40 acres ; alfalfa for seed, 
40 acres. 

Fields Nos. 1, 2, and 3 would be operated as a 3-year ro- 
tation in the order named, while Field No. 4 would be left in 
alfalfa for the entire 3-year period. The fourth year the 
field that was in cultivated crops the previous year would be 
seeded to alfalfa in place of being summer fallowed, while 
the alfalfa field would be plowed up and summer fallowed, 
taking the place of the field newly seeded to alfalfa in the 
regular 3-year rotation. The alfalfa, peas, corn, and rape, 
of course, would be grown in cultivated rows and pastured 
off with the pigs. Sheep and poultry could be substituted 
for pigs, if desired. 

A good dry farm rotation without livestock would be as 
follows : 

Field No. 1 — wheat, 80 acres. 

Field No. 2 — field peas for seed, 80 acres. 

Field No. 3 — summer fallow, 60 acres, potatoes 20 acres. 

Field No. 4 — alfalfa for seed, 80 acres. 

This rotation would be operated as directed in the first 
plan. Sheep could be very advantageously included in this 
plan to consume the alfalfa and pea straw produced, either 
the straw or manure being returned to the fields and thor- 
oughly disked in in the fall, left over winter, and plowed under 
the following spring. Following this rotation plan, nearly 
any combination of different varieties of crop and livestock 



DRY FARMING IN OREGON 19 

products that was desired could be made. Fertility and prof- 
its would steadily increase. 

The Dry Fanner's Home. No farmer can be considered 
successful who does not establish a comfortable and attrac- 
tive home. Almost invariably a highly successful farmer 
lives in a successful home. An attractive home place is even 
more desirable on the dry farm than on other farms. The 
modern farm home may have every convenience that the 
modern city home has, nor is the dry farmer excluded from 
the advantages of garden, orchard, and shade trees, such as 
other farmers enjoy. Where the more drouth-resistant 
varieties of fruit are selected and plenty of space and culti- 
vation given, the family needs may be successfully supplied, 
and this is equally true of the dry farm garden and the plant- 
ings of shade trees around the farmstead. Often where the 
depth to water is not too great, an engine pump will supply 
the limited amount of extra water required to irrigate a small 
garden and orchard on the dry farm. A well-planted farm- 
stead with conveniently arranged and modernly equipped 
buildings and yards makes the dry farm home as attractive 
and successful as that found anywhere. 



'T^'^HE following pages contain advertisements of 
a few of the Macmillan books on kindred subjects. 



A Laboratory Manual of Agriculture 
for Secondary Schools 

By LELAND E. CALL 

Associate Professor of Soils, and 

E. G. SCHAFER 

Instructor in Farm Crops, Kansas State Agricultural College 

Cloth, 127110, illustrated, 344 pages, go cents 

This Manual consists of a series of eighty-two laboratory 
exercises adapted for use in the schools. These exercises are 
so arranged as to provide from six to nine of suitable charac- 
ter for each month. A statement of the object of each exer- 
cise and of the equipment required is followed by necessary 
explanations and directions. Intelligent observation of ac- 
tual conditions and of conditions easily controlled by the stu- 
dent is emphasized throughout. There are numerous forms 
and blank pages for the recording of data. Stimulating 
questions that appeal to the practical judgment of the pupil 
follow each chapter. The student is constantly required to 
check up his ideas by comparing them with observed facts. 
The object sought and frankly acknowledged is vocational 
efficiency. 

Topics treated in the exercises include the distribution of 
seeds ; a field lesson in the study of corn ; a soil moisture 
study; the percolation of water in soils; soil drainage; soil 
mulches ; the early development of the wheat plant ; the corn 
kernel ; corn judging ; factors affecting the germination of 
seeds; planning the home garden; pruning; grafting; ger- 
mination test of seed corn ; comparative judging of horses ; 
judging dairy cattle ; planning the home farm ; tree identifi- 
cation ; starting plants by cuttings ; the dairy herd record. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
PACIFIC COAST BRANCH 

Pacific Northwest Office: 619 Second Avenue, Seattle 



Teaching of Agriculture in the High School 

By garland A. BRICKER 

Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Ohio State University 
With an Introduction by Dr. W. C. Bagley 

202 pages, $1.00 

A skilful exposition of the place of agriculture in the high 
school course of study which first defines the nature of sec- 
ondary agriculture, and then proceeds to discuss the rise and 
development of secondary agriculture in the United States; 
the social results of teaching secondary agriculture; the psy- 
chological and the seasonal determination of sequence ; the 
organization of the course; the aim and methods of presen- 
tation ; and finally the educational aims, values, and ideals 
in teaching agriculture in high schools. 

Materials and Methods in 
High School Agriculture 

By WILLIAM G. HUMMEL, M.S. 

Assistant Professor of Agricultural Education, University of California, and 

BERTHA R. HUMMEL, B.L.S. 

385 pages, $1.25 

This book has been prepared for the use of persons inter- 
ested in the introduction or in the teaching of agriculture in 
high schools of towns, cities, or rural communities where large 
numbers of students are drawn from the farming population, 
or where the prosperity of the high school community is 
largely dependent upon agriculture. 

The first chapters give a general treatment of the reasons 
for placing agriculture in the high school course and the au- 
thors then proceed to discuss the method, the equipment, and 
the subject matter of the course. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

PACIFIC COAST BRANCH 

Pacific Northwest Office: 619 Second Avenue, Seattle 



Three valuable high school books in the Rural Textbook Series. 
Prepared under the editorial supervision of Professor L. H. Bailey 



Harper : Animal Husbandry for Schools 

$1.40 

Written for the high school course, this book treats of horses, cattle, 
sheep, swine, and poultry, each discussed with reference to breeds, judging 
the animal, feeding, care, and management. Practical questions and labo- 
ratory exercises supplement the text and compel the student to think 
through each subject as he proceeds. 



Livingston : Field Crop Production 

$1.40 

This book is intended to meet the needs of agricultural high schools and 
of brief courses in the colleges. It is based on the results of actual studies 
at the experiment stations and it indicates the better way of performing 
every operation in the raising of crops, from selecting the field to harvest- 
ing and marketing the product. It treats in detail some eighteen individ- 
ual crops and explains fully the principles of crop rotation. 



Warren : Elements of Agriculture 

$r.io 

A book by a farmer, an agricultural expert, a professor of Farm Man- 
agement in the New York State College of Agriculture. The text covers 
such topics as: the improvement of plants and animals; the propagation 
of plants; plant food; the soil; maintaining the fertility of the land; 
some important farm crops; enemies of farm crops; system of cropping; 
farms and feeding; the various animal types, in five chapters; farm man- 
agement; and the farm home. There is a valuable appendix and the text 
is excellently illustrated. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

PACIFIC COAST BRANCH 

Pacific Northwest Office: 619 Second Avenue, Seattle 



Cyclopedia of American Agriculture 

Edited by L. H. BAILEY 

Director of the College of Agriculture and Professor of Rurai Economy, 
Cornell University. 

With 100 full-page plates and more than 2,000 illustrations 
in the text; four volumes; the set, $20.00 net; half morocco, 
$32.00 net; carriage extra 

VOLUME I— Farms VOLUME III— Animals 

VOLUME II— Crops VOLUME IV— The Farm and the Community 

"Indispensable to public and reference libraries . . . readily 
comprehensible to any person of average education." — The Nation. 

"The completest existing thesaurus of up-to-date facts and opinions 
on modern agricultural methods. It is safe to say that many years 
must pass before it can be surpassed in comprehensiveness, accuracy, 
practical value, and mechanical excellence. It ought to be in every 
hbrary in the country." — Record-Herald, Chicago. 



Cyclopedia of American Horticulture 

Edited by L. H. BAILEY 

With ov&r 2,800 original engravings; four volumes; the set, 
$20.00 net; half morocco, $32.00 net; carriage extra 

"This really monumental performance will take rank as a standard 
in its class. Illustrations and text are admirable. . . . Our own 
conviction is that while the future may bring forth amplified editions 
of the work, it will probably never be superseded. Recognizing 
its importance, the publishers have given it faultless form. The 
typography leaves nothing to be desired, the paper is calculated to 
stand wear and tear, and the work is at once handsomely and 
attractively bound." — New York Daily Tribune. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

PACIFIC COAST BRANCH 
Pacific Northwest Office: 619 Second Avenue, Seattle 



BOOKS ON AGRICULTURE 

ON TILLAGE, ETC. 

L. H. Bailey's Principles of Agriculture ^1.25 

T. L. Lyon and E. O. Fippin's The Principles of Soil Management 1.75 
Hilgard and Osterhout's Agriculture for Schools on the Pacihc 

Slope 1. 00 

F. H. King's The Soil 1.50 

Isaac P. Roberts's The Fertility of the Land .... 1.50 

Edward B. Voorhees's Fertilizers ...... 1.25 

H. Snyder's Chemistry of Plant and Animal Life . . . .1.25 

H. Snyder's Soils and Fertilizers. Third Edition . . . 1.25 

ON GARDEN-MAKING 

L. H. Bailey's Manual of Gardening ...... 2.00 

L. H. Bailey's Vegetable Gardening ...... 1.50 

A. French's How to Grow Vegetables . . , . . .1.75 

ON FRUIT-GROWING, ETC. 

L. H. Bailey's Fruit Growing ....... 1.50 

L. H. Bailey's The Pruning Book 1.50 

F. W. Card's Bush Fruits 1.50 

ON THE CARE OF LIVE STOCK 

D. E. Lyon's How to Keep Bees for Profit ..... 1.50 

W. H. Jordon's The Feeding of Animals ..... 1.50 

Nelson S. Mayo's The Diseases of Animals ..... 1.50 

George C. Watson's Farm Poultry . . . . . .1.25 

C. S. Valentine's How to Keep Hens for Profit .... 1.50 

ON DAIRY WORK 

Harry Snyder's Dairy Chemistry ...... i.oo 

J. P. Sheldon's The Farm and the Dairy ..... i.oo 

Henry H. Wing's Milk and its Products 1.50 

ON PLANT DISEASES, ETC. 

J. G. Lipman's Bacteria in Relation to Country Life . . . 1.50 

George Massee's Diseases of Cultivated Plants and Trees . . 2.25 

O'Kane's Injurious Insects ........ 2.00 

ON ECONOMICS AND ORGANIZATION 

J. B. Green's Law for the American Farmer . . . .1.50 

I. P. Roberts's The Farmer's Business Handbook . . .1.25 

H. N. Ogden's Rural Hygiene 1.50 

Henry C. Taylor's Agricultural Economics . . . . .1.25 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

PACIFIC COAST BRANCH 

Pacific Northwest Office: 619 Second Avenue, Seattle 



I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



000 933 358 7 



